Door hinge assembly



Dec. 6, 1960' J. H. DOZOIS ETIAL 2,962,751

DOOR HINGE ASSEMBLY Filed April 29, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 6, 1960 J. H. nozols ETAL 2,962,751

DOOR HINGE ASSEMBLY Filed April 29, 1957 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a /6 4? l2 "I E DOOR HINGE ASSEMBLY James H. Dozois, Harper Woods, and Frederick L. Schwartz, Detroit, Mich., assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 29, 1957, Ser. No. 655,698

3 laims. (Cl. 16-145) This invention relates to a door hinge assembly, and more particularly to a door hinge, check, and hold-open.

One of the features of the hinge assembly of this invention is in the arrangement of the hinge members to mount the door on the door support and provide the hinge check. The hinge members have a respective end secured to the door and the door support and are located transversely of each other so that the free end of one member is located intermediate the ends of the other member. A hinge pintle secures the free end of the one member to an intermediate part of the other member so that the other member has a portion extending from the pivot thereof generally laterally to the one member and terminating in a free end. The free end of this portion is provided with a protuberance which is engageable with the one member to provide the hinge check as the other member moves in a direction to align the members upon door opening movement. Thus, the hinge members mount the door on the door support and also provide the hinge check.

Another feature of this invention is in the hinge holdopen. The portion of the other hinge member extending from the pivot thereof is provided with generally U- shaped spring means having shoulders facing the protuberance and defining a constricted throat. As the members move to check position, the shoulders of the spring means receive the one member to provide the yieldable holdopen and also hold the protuberance in tight engagement with the one member to prevent rattling.

A further feature of this invention is in the arrangement of the hinge assembly with respect to the door and door support. The door is provided with a rather wide marginal flange at the outer edge of the jamb face thereofwhich terminates adjacent the outer edge of the jamb face of the door support. The one hinge leaf is secured to the door support and the other hinge leaf is secured to the door jamb face and extends along the inner side of the marginal flange of the door. Thus. the hinge assembly is concealed from the exterior of the door. As the door is opened and the marginal flange swings inward past the support jam face, the marginal flange will also conceal the hinge assembly from view exterior of the door.

Thus, this invention provides a door hinge assembly which is comprised of a minimum number of parts and yet provides a door hinge having a positive hinge check and a yieldable hinge hold-open.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a new and improved door hinge assembly. Anot er ob ect of this invention is to provide an improved door hinge, check, and hold-open assembly. A further obiect of this invention is to provide a door hinge assembly having a positive hinge check provided by engagement of one of the hinge members with the other of the hinge members as the door moves to open position. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a door hinge assembly including a positive hinge check provided by engagement of one part of the hinge members With part of the other hinge members and also including a yieldable hinge hold-open te States Patent provided by resilient interengaging means on the engageable parts of the hinge members.

These and other objects of this invention will be readily apparent from the following specification and drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a partial side elevational view of a vehicle body having a door hinge assembly according to this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view taken on the plane indicated by line 22 of Figure 1 and showing the door and door hinge assembly in closed position;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, and shows the door and door hinge assembly in open position;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the plane indicated by line 44 of Figure 3, and;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the plane indicated by line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Referring now particularly to Figure l of the drawings, a vehicle body 10 of the 4-door hardtop sedan style includes a front door 12 hinged to the body adjacent its forward edge 14 by suitable hinge means and latched at its rearward edge 16 to a vehicle body pillar assembly 18 which extends from the floor pan to the belt line of the body. The rear door 20 of the body is latched at its rearward edge 22 to the rear quarter body panel and is hinged at its forward edge 24 to the pillar assembly 18 by upper and lower hinge assemblies 26 according to this invention. Since each of the hinge assemblies 26 is of the same construction, only the lower hinge assembly will be described, and it will be understood that the upper hinge assembly is of the same construction.

Referring now particularly to Figure 2 of the draw ings, the front door 12 of the body includes a door inner panel 28 and a door outer panel 30, with the door inner panel including a laterally extending Wall 32 forming the front door rear jamb face and joined to the door outer panel by a flange 34 of wall 32 being received within a return bent flan e 36 of the door outer panel. The pillar assembly 18 of the body includes an outer channel member 38 which receives an inner channel member 40,

with flanges 42 of member 40 being secured to the walls of channel member 38 adjacent their inner extremity. A reinforcing channel member 44 extends between the walls of the outer channel member 38 and is secured thereto in a suitable manner. A finger guard 46 has a flange 48 thereof welded or otherwise secured to the outer channel member 38 and extends outwardly to a terminal flange 50 which is conterminous with the front door outer panel 30. A weather strip 52 mounted on the door jamb face 32 of the front door is engageable with a shoulder 54 of ward wall of the outer channel member 38 when the door is closed to provide a seal. A member 64 forming the rear door forward iamb face includes a laterally and rearwa dly extending flange 66 secured to the door inner panel 56 and a laterally and forwardly extending flange 68 secured to the door outer panel 58. with the outer panel 58 also being provided with a return bent flange 70 receiving the edge portion of flan e 68. Flange 68 and the ortion of t e door outer panel 58 flush therewith define the marginal flange of the rear door 20.

leg 76 terminating in an offsetforwardly extending por tion 78 provided with upper and lower apertured bosses 80 and 82 respectively. The mounting leg 74 of the female hinge leaf extends inwardly into channel member 38 through an opening 83 and is secured to the reinforcing; member: 44: byoneor more bolts 84' which extend through apertures in member 44 and are threaded into the hinge leaf. A seal'85ha'vingian opening to receive the mounting leg 74- is securedto member 38 around openings 83 to prevent the entry of dust and moisture within the pillar assembly 18.

The male hinge leaf 86 of the assembly includes a mounting leg 88 and a laterally extending free leg 90' having an intermediateapertured boss 92 received within the upper and lower bosses strand 82 of the female hinge leaf. A hinge pintle 94 extends through the aligned apertured bosses of the hinge leaves so as to pivotally connect the male hinge leaf to the female hinge leaf for swinging movement thereto. The mounting leg 38 of the male hinge leaf fits substantially flush against the member 64, and a number of countersunk bolts 95 extend through apertures in the hinge leaf and member 64 and are threaded into a threaded block 96 so as to secure the male hinge leaf in place on the rear door forward jamb face. The free leg 90 of the male hinge leaf includes a terminal end 98 extending from the pivotal connection thereof. The end 98 is angular to the other portion of leg 90 and terminates in a rounded protuberance 100. It will also be noted that the terminal end 93 of the leg 90 is of less thickness than the other portion of the leg.

Upper and lower generally L-shaped spring members 102 and 104 are secured to the end 98, as may be seen particularly in Figures 2 and 4. The upper member 102 includes a generally flat mounting leg 106 joined to one leg of an intermediate rounded rib 108 which is joined to the free leg 110 of the member by an oppositely opening rounded rib 112. The free leg 110 of the spring is provided with an intermediate flat embossment 114 which is joined to the outwardly flaring free end 118 of the member by a shoulder 116 facing the protuberance 160. The lower spring member 104 is of the same construction as the upper spring, and therefore the same numerals have been used to describe like parts. However, the lower member 104 includes a return bent flange 120 which bears against the mounting leg 106 of the spring. A number of bolts 122 extending through openings in the overlapped mounting legs 106 of the spring members and in the return bent flange 120 of the lower spring member are threaded into the terminal end 98 of the male hinge leaf to secure the springs in place. If desired, the openings in the spring members may be elongated to provide for adjustment.

When the door 20 is in closed position, as can be seen in Figure 2 of the drawings, the laterally extending leg 90 of the male hinge leaf generally follows the laterally and forwardly extending flange 68 of member 64 so that this member, together with the adjacent portion of the door outer panel 58, conceal the male hinge leaf and also that portion of the female hinge leaf out-- side of the pillar assembly 18. If necessary, an opening 124- may be cut in the flange 68 so as to provide clearance between the flange and the bosses of the male and female hinge leaves. When the door is in this position,

the protuberance 100 and the upper and lower spring members 102 and 104 are free of engagement with the female hinge leaf. As the door 20 is moved outwardly of the body to open position, as can be seen from a comparison of Figures 2 and 3, the leg 90 of thernale hinge leaf tends to swing into alignment-with the leg 76 of the female hinge leaf such-that the protuberance 100 will engage the leg 76 of the female hinge leaf in spaced relationshipwith the pivot 94 and provide a positive hinge checklimiting swinging movement of the male hinge leaf relative toqthe female hinge leaf. Also as shown in FigurefB; when the door is in open position the terminal end 98 of leg is substantially parallel with the leg 76 of the female hinge leaf.

Immediately prior to engagement of the protuberance with the leg 76 of the female hinge leaf, the inner surfaces of the free ends 118 of the upper and lower spring members 102 and 104 engage upper and lower chamfered edge portions 126 on the leg 76 to spread the free legs of the members and allow passage of the female hinge leaf through the constricted opening defined by the juncture of shoulders 116 with ends 118 and into engagement with the shoulders and embossments 114 to provide a yieldable hinge hold-open. The upper and lower edges of the female hinge leaf may also be chamfered at 128 opposite the chamfered portions 126 to insure fitting of the female hinge leaf within the shoulders 116 and embossments 114. The shoulders 116 are spaced from the protuberance 100 a distance equal to the width of leg 76 of the female hinge leaf to ensure that the protuberance will be in positive engagement with leg 76 of the female hinge leaf at the same time that leg 76 of the female hinge leaf is in engagement with the shoulders 116. This prevents any rattling which might be caused by movement of leg 76 between the protuberance 100 and the shoulders 116.

When it is desired to move the door to closed position, the door is swung inwardly of the body so as to force leg 76 of the female hinge leaf out of engagement with the shoulders 116 of spring members 102 and 104. It will be noted from a comparison of Figures 2 and 3 that the male hinge leaf is concealed in both door open and door closed positions so as to improve the appearance of the body 10 and to also providea safety feature by preventing engagement between the passengerand'any part of the door hinge.

Thus this invention provides a door hinge assembly which includes a hinge check and a hinge hold-open. The hinge assembly includes a minimum number of parts and yet adequately provides for supporting a door on a door supporting structure, limiting the swinging movement of the door, and yieldably holding the door in open position.

We claim:

1. A door hinge, check, and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotally connected hinge members, an extension on one of said members from the pivot thereof located generally laterally of the other of said members and terminating in a free end portion, a protuberance on said free end portion adapted to engage the other of said members in spaced relationship to the pivot thereof upon swinging movement of said members relative to each other, and spring means'on said extension including a pair of free legs extending generally laterally thereto, each of said legs being provided'with a shoulder facing said' protuberance, swinging movement of said one member relative to said' other member in a direction to align said members causing said protuberance to en gage said other member to provide a positive hinge check and causing said legs to engage opposite edge portions of said other member to cam said legs apart with respect to each other to allow said shoulders to receive said opposite edge portions of said other member therebetween to provide a yieldable hold open and hold said said protuberance in tight engagement with said other member.

2. A door hinge, check, and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotally connected hinge members, an extension on one of said members from the pivot thereof located generally laterally of the other of said members and terminating in a free end portion, a protuberance on said free end portion adapted to engage the other of said members in spaced relationship to the pivot thereof upon swinging movement of said members relative to each other, lead in cash surfaces on opposite edge portions of said other of said members at the area thereof engaged by said protuberance, and spring means on said extension including a pair of free legs extending generally laterally thereto, each of said legs being provided with a shoulder facing said protuberance, swinging movement of said one member relative to said other member in a direction to align said members causing said protuberance to engage said other member to provide a positive hinge check and causing said legs to engage said lead in cam surfaces to cam said legs apart with respect to each other to allow said shoulders to receive said opposite edge portions of said other member therebetween to provide a yieldable hold open and hold said protuberance in tight engagement with said other member.

3. A door hinge, check, and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotally connected hinge members, an extension on one of said members from the pivot thereof located generally laterally of the other of said members and terminating in a free end portion, a protuberance on said free end portion adapted to engage the other of said members in spaced relationship to the pivot thereof upon swinging movement of said members relative to each other, lead in cam surfaces on opposite edge portions of said other of said members at the area thereof engaged by said protuberance, and spring means on said extension including a pair of free legs extending generally laterally thereto, each of said legs being provided with a shoulder facing said protuberance and a lead in cam surface extending from said shoulder toward the free end of said leg, swinging movement of said one member relative to said other member in a direction to align said members causing said protuberance to engage said other member to provide a positive hinge check and causing said lead in cam surfaces to engage each other to cam said legs apart with respect to each other and allow said shoulders to receive opposite edge portions of said other member therebetween to provide a yieldable hold open and hold said protuberance in tight engagement with said other member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 43,670 Colburn Aug. 2, 1864 1,862,411 Mackenzie June 7, 1932 2,342,531 Dean Feb. 22, 1944 2,394,014 Schonitzer Feb. 5, 1946 2,651,805 Laible Sept. 15, 1953 2,712,149 Harms July 5, 1955 

